Launch of Energy Spot Campaign
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to launch The Energy Spot campaign.
The Energy Spot is a name I expect we will become very familiar with in the next year.
It is a new and large scale campaign to help change the way we use energy in our homes and businesses.
It is mainly a prime time television campaign which will set out for New Zealanders the practical choices and options they have to use their energy wisely.
We are all familiar with the Food in the Minute campaign we see on our televisions, well this will be something similar.
A series of 60 second "Energy Spots" played across all the main television channels on what options we all have to save power and money.
This idea is something I have personally pushed for because I believe it makes sense.
With just a little bit of practical advice we can make significant power savings at home and at work, and therefore make better use of our nation's energy resources.
New Zealand households spend about $3.5 billion on energy each year, our businesses spend about $13 billion a year.
It's likely we are wasting a good margin of that energy - energy we could be saving.
And we know from EECA's research that not only are people interested in ways to manage their energy use - but many also feel they lack the knowledge on how to go about it.
64% of respondents to EECA's survey said a barrier to using energy wisely was difficulty getting the information they need.
People want information that is easy to access and easy to understand - it's why prime time television is an ideal medium.
I have championed this project because I believe many New Zealanders are hungry for good authoritative information
How will Energy Spot work?
It's a 60 second spot that's going to screen three nights a week - Sunday Monday and Tuesday.
It will screen at 6.50pm on four channels- TV One, TV2, TV3 and Maori TV.
In addition, The Energy Spot will screen 13 other times during the week, at the discretion of the broadcasters.
By screening on four major channels at the same time, plus these other screenings, it will capture 96% of adults over the course of the year.
The Energy Spot will cover a range of topics.
One week it might talk about efficient ways to heat your house, another week might be about choosing appliances that will save you money in the long term.
Many of the topics will be about household energy usage but it will also cover energy use in business, and in transport. It will also explore some of the larger issues of where our energy comes from and how we can best use it.
A key part of the Energy Spot will be demonstrating a simple low-cost or no-cost tip that viewers can do straight away.
We want to emphasise that good energy management does not have to mean big capital investments - it can just be about changing habits in a way that doesn't impact on our lifestyle but can make a big difference to our energy bills.
It's never cheap to do television. This campaign is going to cost $4 million over the coming year. But we are getting value for money from it.
As well as savings for households and businesses, there is a saving to the country as a whole.
EECA estimates that most households can easily save 10% on their electricity bills by taking a few simple steps. That works out to savings of about $200 per household, or about $320 million in savings each year across the whole country.
Even if just one in every ten households who watch the spot avoid leaving appliances on standby, the country would save over $10 million or enough electricity to run over 5,000 homes a year.
And by reducing our energy consumption, we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions too.
As an example, a 10% decrease in electricity use equates to a reduction of 760,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Assuming a future carbon charge of $25 a tonne, this is worth $19 million to the economy.
Using our energy more efficiently also provides other benefits -benefits like improvements to the health and comfort of our homes, and developing more profitable businesses
In a moment we will play a few episodes of The Energy Spot as an example of what we will see.
As well as providing advice, The Energy Spot will also say where more detailed information can be found, which will be on EECA's ENERGYWISE website.
A very important factor in delivering a credible, engaging programme is the presenter, and I am very happy to say that the presenter for The Energy Spot is here today and will shortly come up and introduce himself.
Jared Turner is an Auckland-based actor who has appeared in several films and who has all the right attributes to deliver energy efficiency messages to New Zealanders.
And Jared is, of course, just one member of the large team that is making The Energy Spot happen.
I would like to thank EECA and their associated companies for their hard work in making this happen.
The Energy Spot will start on Sunday the 4th of October.
It will help us use our power more efficiently at home and at work and it will help us become a nation that makes the most of our energy resources.
It will provide New Zealanders with the advice they are seeking and practical low cost solutions to help them be more energy efficient.
And for a relatively small upfront cost we have the potential to save the home, the workplace, and the economy a great deal of money.
I hope you enjoy watching the Energy Spot now, and also for the many months ahead.
So now it is my great pleasure to show you a sneak preview of the Energy Spot.
Thank you.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to launch The Energy Spot campaign.
The Energy Spot is a name I expect we will become very familiar with in the next year.
It is a new and large scale campaign to help change the way we use energy in our homes and businesses.
It is mainly a prime time television campaign which will set out for New Zealanders the practical choices and options they have to use their energy wisely.
We are all familiar with the Food in the Minute campaign we see on our televisions, well this will be something similar.
A series of 60 second "Energy Spots" played across all the main television channels on what options we all have to save power and money.
This idea is something I have personally pushed for because I believe it makes sense.
With just a little bit of practical advice we can make significant power savings at home and at work, and therefore make better use of our nation's energy resources.
New Zealand households spend about $3.5 billion on energy each year, our businesses spend about $13 billion a year.
It's likely we are wasting a good margin of that energy - energy we could be saving.
And we know from EECA's research that not only are people interested in ways to manage their energy use - but many also feel they lack the knowledge on how to go about it.
64% of respondents to EECA's survey said a barrier to using energy wisely was difficulty getting the information they need.
People want information that is easy to access and easy to understand - it's why prime time television is an ideal medium.
I have championed this project because I believe many New Zealanders are hungry for good authoritative information
How will Energy Spot work?
It's a 60 second spot that's going to screen three nights a week - Sunday Monday and Tuesday.
It will screen at 6.50pm on four channels- TV One, TV2, TV3 and Maori TV.
In addition, The Energy Spot will screen 13 other times during the week, at the discretion of the broadcasters.
By screening on four major channels at the same time, plus these other screenings, it will capture 96% of adults over the course of the year.
The Energy Spot will cover a range of topics.
One week it might talk about efficient ways to heat your house, another week might be about choosing appliances that will save you money in the long term.
Many of the topics will be about household energy usage but it will also cover energy use in business, and in transport. It will also explore some of the larger issues of where our energy comes from and how we can best use it.
A key part of the Energy Spot will be demonstrating a simple low-cost or no-cost tip that viewers can do straight away.
We want to emphasise that good energy management does not have to mean big capital investments - it can just be about changing habits in a way that doesn't impact on our lifestyle but can make a big difference to our energy bills.
It's never cheap to do television. This campaign is going to cost $4 million over the coming year. But we are getting value for money from it.
As well as savings for households and businesses, there is a saving to the country as a whole.
EECA estimates that most households can easily save 10% on their electricity bills by taking a few simple steps. That works out to savings of about $200 per household, or about $320 million in savings each year across the whole country.
Even if just one in every ten households who watch the spot avoid leaving appliances on standby, the country would save over $10 million or enough electricity to run over 5,000 homes a year.
And by reducing our energy consumption, we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions too.
As an example, a 10% decrease in electricity use equates to a reduction of 760,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Assuming a future carbon charge of $25 a tonne, this is worth $19 million to the economy.
Using our energy more efficiently also provides other benefits -benefits like improvements to the health and comfort of our homes, and developing more profitable businesses
In a moment we will play a few episodes of The Energy Spot as an example of what we will see.
As well as providing advice, The Energy Spot will also say where more detailed information can be found, which will be on EECA's ENERGYWISE website.
A very important factor in delivering a credible, engaging programme is the presenter, and I am very happy to say that the presenter for The Energy Spot is here today and will shortly come up and introduce himself.
Jared Turner is an Auckland-based actor who has appeared in several films and who has all the right attributes to deliver energy efficiency messages to New Zealanders.
And Jared is, of course, just one member of the large team that is making The Energy Spot happen.
I would like to thank EECA and their associated companies for their hard work in making this happen.
The Energy Spot will start on Sunday the 4th of October.
It will help us use our power more efficiently at home and at work and it will help us become a nation that makes the most of our energy resources.
It will provide New Zealanders with the advice they are seeking and practical low cost solutions to help them be more energy efficient.
And for a relatively small upfront cost we have the potential to save the home, the workplace, and the economy a great deal of money.
I hope you enjoy watching the Energy Spot now, and also for the many months ahead.
So now it is my great pleasure to show you a sneak preview of the Energy Spot.
Thank you.
